Thursday, August 18, 2005

'Able Danger' and Lessons to be Learned

If you listen to, or read the news today, you'll find this story all over the place:
Prewar Memo Warned of Gaps in Iraq Plans

It's the same old song, really, recycled again to show how we're losing in Iraq. Problem with that? We're NOT. Been there, heard it, tired of it. Apparently these word-processing generals think that wars has no unknowns, that somehow we have DoD employees with precognition. It's a war, for crying out loud. You can never count on what's going to happen with the enemy. You plan, you prepare, but nothing is a given. What's interesting in this one, though, is the fact that here we have an old story, played again and again in differing versions, that's getting as much newsplay as this one (or more):

'Able Danger' Could Rewrite History

Now, here's a scary story. The 9/11 Commission (a copy of that report is sitting right next to me on the desk here) was sharply critical of U.S. intelligence agencies' failure to share information, or to consider outside information. And yet they were told twice about Able Danger, and chose to ignore it.

The Clinton Administration's failure to deal with Bin Laden isn't a new revelation. It was that very same Administration that failed to capture or kill him when they had the chance. But here is information that told of terrorists IN THIS COUNTRY, known terrorists, that was ignored on Clinton's watch. Not just missed. Intentionally ignored. One of the reasons? The possibility of political fallout.

Blame for 9/11 has flown in all directions (including the loonies who say Bush knew about it and wanted it to happen). Let's get this straight. It is NOT Clinton's fault that 9/11 happened. It is NOT Bush's fault that 9/11 happened. It is NOT the fault of the FBI, or the CIA, or the TSA, or any other U.S. agency. Blame for 9/11 rests solely on Al Qaeda - with Osama Bin Laden, and 19 people who decided to hijack planes and murder innocent people.

That being said, the Able Danger story does illustrate a few very, very important things about how our governmental failings create opportunities for those who want to attack us.

1. Democrats, in their "politically correct" approach to everything, have a major failing when it comes to dealing with terrorists. In their repeated calls to understand the terrorists, their desire not to make terrorists hate us, and their monumental concerns about their image, they repeatedly fail to call these people what they are: The Enemy. And when you don't identify the enemy, it's hard to deal with them appropriately.

2. Although the 9/11 Commission did a fair job of identifying some pretty significant issues, they were far from a comprehensive analysis. If we had information that could have led to the capture of these terrorists, but didn't use it, how is that not important? The report wasn't completely bad, but there was still a bit of an anti-Bush agenda driving that train. And no one, but no one, wanted to criticize the Clinton Administration.

3. The failures - and the agenda - of the Clinton Administration caused almost disastrous damage to our ability to defend ourselves.

Clinton is still the darling of the Dems. Could you imagine if anyone was saying that the Bush Administration was flat out TOLD about terrorists in this country - flat out TOLD that these people were members of Al Qaeda - and they chose to ignore it? Worse yet, chose not to take the risk of political fallout in order to protect the country? What would the headlines look like then?

Clinton's presidency resulted in serious compromises in national security. To name a few:

* The CIA and NSA found their budgets slashed beyond recognition. That, coupled with the laws forbidding the CIA from operating inside the US, or sharing information with the FBI, were hampering the ability of those agencies to do their jobs, and Clinton knew it. In addition, Clinton made decisions that allowed the compromise of sensitive information (allowing a Chinese national access to secret technology), released people convicted of releasing classified information, and generally made this country less secure. There are darker allegations, too.

Jim Woolsey, President Clinton’s first CIA director from 1993-95, remembers pleading with the White House to fight budget cuts imposed by the Democrat majority on the Senate intelligence committee. But Clinton disliked the intelligence community, and Woolsey had only two private meetings with him in two years. When a light plane crashed into the south side of the White House, Woolsey says, the staffers inside joked that it was the CIA director trying to get an appointment in the Oval Office. (from Free Republic)

* Under the Clinton Administration, intelligence about Al-Qaeda (and it's connection to Iraq) was ignored, and there was a complete failure to work with those who knew the score (Sudan...)

* Under the Clinton Administration, shortfall of revenue for its own defense planning was pervasive. No, poor planning is not solely a Clinton issue when it comes to defense spending. Bush I made military cuts too - urged on by a Democrat Congress. What's even more frightening is how the budgeting was done. Some pay increases were planned for (which is a good thing), but improving technology was not. Clinton's cuts to defense spending were catastrophic to some programs. Under his administration, almost $11 billion in Pentagon spending was not related to defense - $11 billion for AIDS and cancer research, environmental issues...someone please tell me how this ends up in a Defense budget?? I'm not saying that funding shouldn't exist for those programs, but it certainly sounds like shady math to me. And Clinton's animosity for the military isn't exactly a secret. Clinton used the military when it was convenient. A person who dodged the draft then hides behind the "I'm the Commander-in-Chief" argument when he's on the hot seat. To me, it was the slimiest of arguments, and a complete insult to the military.

Side note: I actually heard someone on the radio the other day say that Bush didn't serve in the military. When it was pointed out that yes, he did, the caller responded that "Well, yeah, he was in the National Guard or whatever, [but that's not the same]". I wonder if our National Guard personnel currently deployed think that? And as a side note, criticisms of the inadequacy of our military that rest largely on the deployment of National Guard and Reserve troops are a little short-sighted. National Guard and Reserve troops were deployed in Vietnam, too

Bottom line is, Able Danger should be a HUGE story. Not because it shows that 9/11 was Clinton's fault - because it wasn't. But because it illustrates the consistent failure of the Left to deal with terrorists. Quite frankly, they never have had - and don't have now - the stones for it.

The Right isn't in the clear on this either. The Dems' current push to make themselves look like the champions of border security (while vetoing restrictions on providing licenses to non-citizens and other measures that curtail the carte blanche of illegals) has shown us something else, too. The Republicans are also failing to take needed steps to secure our borders, and secure our country. As has been said before, Political Correctness is killing us - literally. (Pre-9/11, an FBI agent applied for a warrant on suspicious Islamists that turned out to be involved in that attack. It was denied by a judge who didn't want to be accused of profiling).

The Dems' hug-a-terrorist, anti-military, can't-we-all-just-get-along philosophy is short-sighted, irresponsible, and deadly. And the Republicans aren't exactly making the tough decisions, either.

9/11 is the fault of those who planned and carried out the attacks. But they found willing enablers in this country - all who knew of and ignored the risks. If we don't solve that, there is no doubt that something just as bad, or worse, is coming.

Blogging about 'Able Danger' and related issues:
Michelle Malkin
Austin Bay
Baldilocks
PointFive
Quill News
The Astute Blogger
Noble Eagle
Military Matters
Open Fire

Mega Hat Tip to the Mudville Gazette

posted by Pam @ 1:27 PM |

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